Between hammer and anvil: The predicament of artisanal miners in katanga

Abstract

This chapter deals with the complex dynamics of domination and resistance in the mining sector in Katanga, the south-east province of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Faced with the decline of the state mining company Gécamines but encouraged by the spectacular rise of mineral prices over the past few years, an estimated 250,000 Katangese are digging for copper and cobalt ores on a daily basis, equipped with nothing more than a shovel or a pickaxe. Basically, they are working in two different places: either legally, in concessions ceded to them by Gé camines on instructions of the Congolese government, or illegally, in concessions belonging to private companies or to Gécamines. Organising themselves in teams of four to six people, the creuseurs hand over their minerals to middlemen or négociants, who, in turn, arrange for the transport of the minerals from the mines to the warehouses of maisons (trading houses) established in Kolwezi, Likasi and Lubumbashi, Katanga’s three main mining hubs. Ultimately, it is the trading houses who sell the minerals on the international market. Meanwhile, from 2002 onwards, the global demand for copper has risen due to a combination of increased consumer spending and an expanding infrastructure in rapidly developing countries such as India and China. The global demand for cobalt has also risen as a result of worldwide increases in chemical applications such as catalysts and rechargeable batteries.